Stories for a better planet

Kishor Rithe, India

Kishor Rithe, a former engineering professor with a passion for tigers, is creating a network of model organizations to protect India’s forests and wildlife. He is helping locals and conservationists work with government, journalists, national and global organizations to save India’s fragile ecosystems.

Through the Satpuda Foundation, Kishor is strengthening local citizen organizations to make a measurable impact on wildlife protection and forest conservation. He is creating an effective network, connecting local organizations to each other, and linking them to other related organizations in national and international partnerships. Previously, he spent ten years (1990 to 2000) building the Nature Conservation Society of Amravati (NCSA), a tiger conservation program that succeeded because it helped citizens, government, and environmental organizations figure out how to work together. Using the same philosophy and techniques, he has established the Satpuda Foundation to build and strengthen local efforts to stop natural resource exploitation in and around national parks and reserves. The foundation has developed forest and habitat defending mechanism in the states of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. Among these targeted reserves there are fifteen tiger habitats in the Satpura mountain range, one of the most bio-diverse regions in Asia. Already working in and around seven sanctuaries in Madhya Pradesh and eleven in Maharashtra, the Foundation plans to reach the entire 25000 sq.km of Satpuda Landscape in central India specially outside the Tiger Reserves. Kishor’s model centers on several key principles. He believes that conservation and protection must be led by locals to sustain their interest and participation over an extended period of time. Also crucial is the support of those who shape policy and public opinion, including government, academics, nongovernment conservation groups, the media, and the general public. Kishor prevents serious problems by encouraging communication among key stakeholders so that potential conflicts can be detected early on. He is careful to base his advocacy on facts and research rather than politics.

Today Satpura Foundation (SF) has spread in the entire Satpuda Landscape. He runs mobile education vans spreading conservation message effectively among locals living in and around Tiger reserves in Central India. He has also started Mobile health Unit which treat around 25000 tribal patients every year. He has also resettled around 5 villages from The Tiger Reserves successfully. He has set up the special Employment Cell and provided employment to around 250 tribal youths, men and women. Kishor has been working with the Government of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh and assisting the Government to implement the forest conservation projects. He has also convinced Government successfully to reject few destructive projects coming in the tiger habitat. He has also sought the help from judiciary and media for his constructive work and positive actions. Presently he is restoring the degraded habitat of 2500 ha.